Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Amazon Restructures, Keeps Up Its Momentum

This month, Amazon engineered a significant restructuring of its healthcare leadership, reorganizing its Amazon Health Services division into 6 new business units. This overhaul was designed to simplify the structure of the large Amazon healthcare operation following a period of executive departures. In terms of clinical care delivery, Amazon’s One Medical offers membership-based services with a targeted focus on employer groups with same-day appointments and virtual care. Across the country, One Medical currently partners with …

Some Measles Cases Are Showing Up In Vaccinated Patients

Among the 1,197 confirmed measles cases in the United States so far this year, about 3% have occurred in people who received 2 doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and 2% in those who received 1 dose, according to an update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Now showing up in 35 states, measles cases have been confirmed in 347 people under the age of 5 years, 446 cases in …

Age Of Moms Giving Birth Steadily Increasing Over The Last 55 Years

Women are having babies later in life, according to a new National Vital Statistics Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mean age for giving birth rose from 28.7 years old in 2016 to 29.6 years old in 2023, following a steady upward trendline. With the exception of the year 2006, the age of mothers at birth has either increased or remained stable every year since 1970. For first-time mothers, the age …

RSV Vaccine Approved For Younger Populations

The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine manufactured by Moderna, Inc. received approval last week by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV in individuals 18-59 years of age who are at increased risk for disease. The vaccine was previously approved in May 2024 for adults aged 60 years and older, according to a press release, and this new approval expands the age range for use to a younger …

Oseltamivir Reduces Influenza Mortality

For people with hospitalizations due to influenza, oseltamivir treatment was associated with a lower mortality risk, earlier discharge, and lower readmission rates in a large retrospective study published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers analyzed 11,073 hospitalized adults with seasonal influenza across 30 Canadian hospitals from 2015 through 2023 and found when oseltamivir treatment was initiated in the hospital on day 0 or day 1, patients experienced significantly improved outcomes compared to those who had supportive …

More Cannabis Use Equals More Negative Health Effects

Cannabis use among adults is rising, which emerging literature shows also causes added concern for negative health effects. This month in a health letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found the prevalence of past-month cannabis use among older adults increased significantly from 4.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.9%-5.9%) in 2021 to 7.0% (95% CI, 6.2%-8.0%) in 2023. The study included 15,689 adults aged 65 years or older. Additionally, a separate retrospective study involving 6 …

New RSV Vaccine Approved For Infants

The Food and Drug Administration this month approved a new vaccine for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract disease in newborns and infants, designed as preventive care for their first RSV season. The long-acting monoclonal antibody clesrovimab-cfor offers protection through 5 months with the same 105 mg dose regardless of weight, according to a press release from manufacturer Merck. Clinical data from multiple trials shows significant reductions in RSV incidence and …

NERUCA Builds Emergency Network Among Members

The North East Regional Urgent Care Association (NERUCA) is building an emergency communications network for urgent care centers across the Northeastern United States, according to a recent NERUCA newsletter. The goal is to improve real-time coordination and information sharing during public health events and emergencies. It’s asking members to provide their mobile phone numbers and emails for emergency alerts. NERUCA will stage a pilot emergency notification test later this summer. Members in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, …

GLP-1 Drugs Increase Risk of Macular Degeneration

A recent study in JAMA Network Ophthalmology found that older adults with diabetes who were treated with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) had a significantly higher risk of developing neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). The retrospective study, conducted from January 2020 to November 2023, followed patients for up to 3 years. It included individuals aged 66 years or older (46.6% female) who had a diagnosis of diabetes and at least 12 months of follow-up …

Should Diphenhydramine Revert to Prescription-Only Status?

A recent article in the World Allergy Organization Journal aims to discourage the use of prescription and over-the-counter diphenhydramine. Clinical teams from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Division of Allergy and Immunology, University of California, San Diego, argue that the first-generation antihistamine has risks and should no longer be widely prescribed or made available over-the-counter. There are safer and more effective second-generation alternatives like cetirizine, loratadine, and fexofenadine available that might be …

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